Reflection: September 11, 2001
by Melchy
Summary: A national tragedy hits too close to home.


A special thanks to Susan and Denise for their encouragement and support.

The Characters from the Ghost and Mrs. Muir do not belong to me but to 20th Century Fox. I only use them from time to time and make no money off of them.

In Tribute to those who lost loved ones on Sept. 11, 2001

He couldn't stop watching the television that day, the events re-playing over and over, never changing.

"I can't watch it anymore." Carolyn had left the living room around 3:00 to go up to the bedroom and wait by the phone. If only the phone would ring, telling them that everything was fine. That their part in this nightmare was over. Once more he watched as the plane hit the second tower, watching the smoke and the fire, the people screaming, running, jumping from windows.

'Please God, let her be all right,' he prayed for the thousandth time that day. _'If you listen to the prayers of a dead man then please let her be fine.' _

Picking up the remote, he turned the channel to see the scene over again. He had a longing for the way the world used to be, when news wasn't so available. In this modern age, you saw things as they happened even if they were half way round the world.

The sound of the ringing phone made him jump. A few seconds later, Carolyn's voice called down to him, "Daniel pick up the phone, it's Candy."

"Candy?" his voice trying to stay firm. " Have you any news?" Once more the towers were crumbling, people were screaming, sirens everywhere.

"We still haven't heard anything." Candy's voice was full of frantic tears. "It's almost 4:00, surely we would know something by now. Mom," her voice shook, "Captain. I'm so afraid."

The beep on the phone signaled another call was coming in. A few moments later Carolyn came back on the line. "That was Anna, Jonathan's home and he's fine. They haven't heard anything more about the situation in New York."

Jonathan worked as an advisor for the navy at the Pentagon. Thankfully, he had had a meeting at the Navy Yard that morning and had been eating brunch when the plane had hit the Pentagon. He had phoned Anna, his wife of five years and then his mother. "I'm fine, Mom." he had reassured her. "But wasn't this the day that Dani's class was going to New York?"

Dani was Candy's oldest daughter, sixteen years old and a particular favorite of the Captain's. Candy had come home bringing two-year-old Dani with her, six months pregnant with her second child. Kevin had informed Candy just a few days before that he had met someone else and it was over. At the Captain's insistence, she came home to Gull Cottage and stayed through the birth of little Cori, until she was a year old. During that time, Captain Gregg and his little namesake were inseparable. She adored her "Cap" who found great delight in her little girl ways. Cori had never acknowledged his existence but through the years, Dani had sent him notes and pictures, asked permission to call, and even referred to him as her grandfather, although never to his face.

"You're right." Carolyn had checked the calendar on the wall. "They were going to the Trade Center this morning." the panic rising in her voice

.   
Candy's call had come through several minutes later, her voice so full of tears she could barely talk.

Mom?" her voice had wavered. "Dani, she's, Dani, the Trade Center. I'm so frightened."

With Captain Gregg on one extension and Carolyn on the other, the three of them talked and tried to calm one another, while they watched the television screens, with searching eyes and extra sensitive hearing, waiting for news, a picture, a hint that the class was all right, that they hadn't arrived at the time of the crash, that everything would be okay, that Dani was unhurt and safe.

But now it was almost 5:00 and they still hadn't any affirmation of their wish. Candy promised to call again in an hour. Carolyn clicked the phone down, letting out a huge sigh filled with tears. The Captain was standing by the ship's wheel before she could reach the French doors.

"I'm so afraid, Daniel." she said quietly, looking up into his eyes for strength. All these years he had been her rock. Why would it be any different now? "And I feel guilty." Her hands gripped the ship's wheel, holding on to it like a lifeline.

"Guilty? Why would you feel guilty, Carolyn?" His eyes were full of concern.

"I saw people, so many people being killed, building evaporating, and the world in turmoil. Thousands of people probably lost relatives; friends, husbands, wives, children and I only want Dani to be okay."

"But she is part of our turmoil, the part that makes it personal. There's nothing wrong with that."  
Carolyn nodded, knowing he was right but trying to make herself believe it.

"Do you need anything?" He asked her, knowing she needed some time alone, here in her spot.

"No, thank you." Her eyes were showing her gratitude.

"I'll be here," he assured her, "before you even call."

The television drew him back into the alcove. A news correspondent was explaining what they knew at this point, how the world was reacting and that President Bush would be speaking at 9:00. He was somewhere in Louisiana or Mississippi or something now. The seaman sat down on the overstuffed chair picking up the remote, skipping through the many channels. News, news, news, a minister saying that America deserved this, news, a physic that said she knew all about it months ago, news, _Leave It To Beaver_.

Walking over to the window seat, he opened one of the windows, letting the fresh fall air into the room. Dani would be found, safe, alive. Dani would be here at Christmas like they had planned. His Dani would be all right; he had to believe that.

He thought about what Carolyn had said about feeling guilty. In his many years of haunting he had been aware of many disasters, and tragedies, but none had hit this close to him. April 15, 1912--the sinking of the ocean liner Titanic. He hadn't been able to read about it until three days later when he found a newspaper that someone had left on the beach. He had felt it however, the agony of the lost souls. The papers had declared the loss the greatest disaster known to man. Silently he had agreed.

The start of World War I had reached him a week late. While taking a stroll through Schooner Bay trying to keep in touch with the world, he had heard two men discussing it. It seemed that a possessed man had killed an archduke and now the world was in chaos. He spent long hours at the library, obtaining newspapers, keeping a handle on the situation. The war was soon complicated by an influenza epidemic and a revolution in Russia. And still the world went on.

Louisa Adamson Gregg had been living in Gull Cottage in 1941. She was the only person, relative or boarder that he had allowed to enter his home. Her husband Charles, a supposed nephew of the Captain's, was in the navy and had little money. None of that had mattered to the Captain and he had planned to repel them like everyone else who dared to set foot on his ship. He could still remember her huge brown eyes, even larger with fear. "The war is here now, Captain, the Japanese just bombed Pearl Harbor." Her voice trembled. "The war was so far away just five minutes ago and now it's here, in Gull Cottage. I wonder where Charlie is?"

Louisa spent most of the next four years wondering where Charlie might be at any given time. Somewhere in the Pacific was the closest information she ever got. Night after night, the Captain would sit with her in the front room, listening to the events of the day on the radio, the world he had known crumbling. Every day the news brought death, hunger, and the effects of a senseless horrible war. Even that did not affect him as he was now.

The phone rang; it brought him out of his thoughts. He almost answered it, 34 years of "training" almost forgotten in his anxiousness. The television was showing Andy Griffith now and it seemed so surreal that life could have ever been that peaceful on this day.

"Daniel!" Carolyn's voice came down the stairs. "Get on the extension, please."

Bracing himself for who might be on the other end and what they might say, he said hello.

"Hello, Captain, this is Dani."


End file.
